Newsletter n°10 - September, 13th 2015

Dear friends,

The fifth apparition, on September 13th 1917, is probably not the most famous of the Fatima apparitions. Indeed, Our Lady didn’t teach anything new. She only repeated two points that she had ever announced several times during the previous apparitions: “Continue to pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war.[…] In October I will perform the miracle so that all may believe”.

We could almost say that this apparition was banal. However, it was not at all, it is quite the opposite. Indeed, it was shrouded by many more signs than during the previous apparitions. The dialogue is as simpler as the outwards manifestations were impressive.

First of all, the number of witness was considerable. There was about 18.000 people on August, 13th, and between 25 and 30.000 the following month, four month only after the first apparition. Such an attendance had never been seen before during an apparition.

However, more than the number of witness, the outwards phenomena really form the extraordinary nature of this apparition. First of all, all the signs of the previous apparitions were repeated: the lightning, the thunder, the little cloud, the slightly bowed holm-oak branches, the whispers heard when the Blessed Virgin was speaking, the changing daylight, the cooling down temperature, the hue of all the colors of the surrounding objects. (See also Maria Carreira’s testimony in the newsletter n°8). But there was also several new phenomena.

First, a luminous globe majestically moved in the space, in a perfectly blue sky, without any cloud. A cloud which seemed like incense appeared and disappeared three times above the holm-oak. Canon Barthas wrote a wonderful description in the French book Fatima, Merveille du XXe siècle, p. 127 & 128.

Then, there was a mysterious rain of flakes vanishing when they touched the ground, a phenomenon which occurred once again on May, 13th 1918, and on May, 13th 1924. Here is what a witness told :

We see, very high, very little shapes, as white as the snow, which were crossing over the air from the East to the West. It looks like doves, but we clearly see that it is not birds. On the hill, on the West, R. Fr. Joaquim Ferreira Gonçalvès das Neyes, priest of Santa Catarina da Serra, was standing up. I turn around to him and ask him if he can see something. He answers no. I show him the direction, and he immediately declares that he saw it also. (Br. Michel de la Sainte Trinité, in Toute la vérité sur Fatima, tome I, p. 274).

The parish priest of Santa Catarina was a witness that couldn’t be suspected of complaisance towards the apparitions. He warned his parishioners against it, saying: “Satan is disguising itself into an Angel of Light”.

But maybe the most surprising thing is the inequality of the witness concerning the perception of all these phenomena. Whereas on August, A3th, all the witness could see it, on September, 13th, about one third of the people declared they didn’t see anything. And among those who didn’t see anything, there was people who wanted to see from the bottom of their soul, whereas among the simple curious persons or the convinced unbelievers and strongly decided to see nothing, a lot of them saw. This disparity totally excludes the hypothesis of a collective hallucination and also cancels any possibility of a strictly natural explication.

Why such a number of extraordinary signs, a number never reached in all the story of the apparitions before this date? Why, if not to sign the importance of this request of Our Lady, that She had ever asked four times since May, 13th: ‘Recite the Rosary every day in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.’? So, in order to get peace in our world so tragically involved in war, let us answer to Our Lady, and let us recite our Rosary every day.

In union of prayers by the hearts of Jesus and Mary.Yves de Lassus

The last news about our project

Our project couldn’t remain unnamed. That’s why a name has just been given to it. From now on, it is called: CAP Fatima 2017. “CAP” means Centenary of the APparitions.

From September 17th, to September 22nd, most of the members of the little team which leads the project will meet during six days in Fatima, next to Our Lady, to consecrate it to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and obtain all the necessary favors to bring it where and how she wants. Please join your prayers to theirs, so that this project can contribute to the annunciate triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Some dates in September, in the history of the Rosary and of Fatima

September, 12th 1213: Simon de Montfort’s victory against the Cathar men in Muret, next to Toulouse. (see also Les victoires temporelles du Rosaire).September, 12th 1683: Jean Sobieski’s victory against the Turkish people in Vienna in Austria. Jean Sobieski was the king of Poland. (see also Les victoires temporelles du Rosaire).September, 12th 1921: Mgr da Silva’s first visit in Fatima. He was the bishop of Leiria.September, 12th 1935: Jacintha’s coffin is transferred from Vila Nova de Ourem to the cemetery of Fatima. For this occasion, Jacintha’s coffin is opened, and her face appears unspoiled.September, 13th 1917: Fifth apparition of Our Lady in Fatima.September, 13th 1917: The bishop of Leira makes public Our Lady’s requests (See also Première lettre et Deux lettres de sœur Lucie sur la dévotion au Cœur Immaculé de Marie).September, 13th 1959: In Catania, the Italian bishops consecrate Italy to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.September, 22nd 1891: Encyclical Octobri Mense, by Leon XIII, about the Rosary.

Feasts of Our Lady:

September, 8th: The Nativity of the Very Blessed Virgin MarySeptember 12th: The Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin MarySeptember 15th: Our Lady of SorrowsSeptember 24th: Our Lady of Mercy